garrettcz's reviews
362 reviews

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is incredible. 

The characters are awesome, the premise is really cool, and the magic system is very different and mysterious. But the real shining star of this book is the prose. 

Truly, this book is so beautifully written, especially when the author is describing the magic. There is so much poetry in the author’s writing style, and the imagery is off the charts incredible. 

The magic system is softer than you usually see in books where it’s featured this much, but was so well done that to me it never felt overpowered or a deus ex machina. Even though the rules weren’t explored in depth it didn’t detract from the tension or drama of the story.  

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really didn’t enjoy this book at first. Once the plot started moving a bit I found it more enjoyable, but it is an odd book. 

The best way I can describe this book is if you took some semblance of the outlandish, over the top scenes of Don Quixote, a dash of the wit of The Importance of Being Earnest, and the ludicrous, borderline nonsensical interconnected character interactions of Burn After Reading, and somehow ran all of that through a sort of comedy tone somewhere between I Love Lucy and The Odd Couple…

If that sounds right up your alley you’ll probably really enjoy this book. I will say it definitely isn’t for everyone. 

Also, just a warning…but sexual assault is mentioned a WEIRD amount of times. 

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Incredible. 

I loved this book even more than The Shadow of the Gods. It is way more fast-paced and nonstop awesome. The characters are so good and the stakes are so high. The tension is through the roof and I couldn’t put it down. 

I can’t wait for the third book! 

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is simply incredible. 

The vampire is different and terrifying and sinister in a way that is very rare. My heart was beating out of my chest at several points. The characters were all so believable and felt real. I couldn’t put this book down. 

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

These books just keep getting better and better. I started this series because I’d heard they were funny, and they are. I wasn’t warned I would care so much about these characters. My heart was not prepared. 

I will read every single future book in this series the day it is released, that is a promise. 

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I mostly enjoyed this book, but I had a lot of issues with the pacing. I felt like it took forever for the book to get going, and then felt like most of the plot points toward the end of the book flew by. 

Things I liked:

The world of spore seas was AWESOME. 

I loved the magic. The different types of spores, and Tress’s exploration of them was so much fun! 

The characters were so cool and different! 

Crossovers with other Cosmere stuff! I love that we’re getting more and more of this! 

Things I didn’t like:

I felt like the pacing needed a ton of work, which is surprising for Sanderson. He’s normally so good at pacing. I hated how rushed the end of the book felt, and it took so long to get going. 

The villain didn’t feel at all fleshed out. She felt flat and cartoonish in the worst ways. This was such a massive letdown because the entire book is building her up. She felt very one-dimensional. 

Some of the comedy was well done, but quite a lot of it didn’t land for me. Sanderson’s comedy is best used sparingly and is good when it happens organically. When he goes out of his way to be funny it almost never lands for me, and this book has a lot of that, unfortunately. 

4/5 for me. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Yikes. 

The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.

This book is not for me. I typically hate the amnesia trope, other than a couple notable exceptions (Project Hail Mary and The Bourne Identity), and I really don’t care for Brandon’s attempts at comedy. He can occasionally be funny, but when he is actively trying to write things to be intentionally funny it’s usually very cringy for me. 

I DNFed around 10%. 

The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book! I’ve got a lot of thoughts about it. 

Things I loved:

Great action scenes. Gwynne nails the chaos of combat every time. 

Lots of cool Norse stuff. 

Characters. Gwynne is great at creating main characters who are different, unique, and believable. 

Plot. You want the characters to succeed and you care about their struggles. 

Things I struggled with:

I can go my whole life without hearing “thought cage” again. 

Some of the side characters kinda started blending together for me between the POVs. 

Sometimes he’d use Norse words without explaining what they mean. 

I wanted to know more about the tainted and how the different varieties differ from each other. I hope this happens in the sequel. 

4.5 rounded up. 

Comfort & Joy by Kristin Hannah

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I did not enjoy this book. I kept waiting for it to turn a corner into heartwarming territory and it never did. It felt very forced and I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to enjoy it. 

I’m giving it two stars because the prose is solid. That’s the only real positive thing in the book for me.